The Adventure of a Lifetime
by jracacia
Summary: Time for a new perspective on our beloved characters. The origins of the super mario bros and their first adventure as heroes. Some romance will also ensure with MarioxPeach and Luigi x Daisy. After much inspiration from reading some of the Mario fanfics, I wanted to take a shot on writing my own. I hope you enjoy.
1. Background

**The Adventure of a Lifetime**

The year was 1993 in Brooklyn, New York. In the real world, the existence of the mysterious yet odd creations of the Mushroom Kingdom was not brought to light. Instead other problems lay afoot in our society like robbery, assault, murder that caused chaos in its own right. Of course crimes like these would be handled post haste by any law enforcement and justice departments that were located here. There were no "famous heroes".

In a small apartment located on 36th avenue and 12th street lived a couple of brothers who were just trying to keep themselves afloat. One of them was named Mario, a short and a little chubby yet athletic plumber who was the owner of the business called Mario Brothers Plumbing. The other one was named Luigi, a tall and skinny plumber who was just as athletic as Mario but not as strong as him, was the other partner in their business. The apartment they had was a part of a complex that was run down due to age, which was one of the reasons why they were able to get it for so cheap. It had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, which is all they ever really needed in life. Sure they had a few luxury items, but money was never a concern for them as they enjoyed just being in each other's company as inseparable best friends.

"Luigi hurry up, we got ourselves a job to do," Mario yelled as he got his tool kit and dressed in a red shirt, blue overalls, black shoes, and a red hat with a red M in a white circle on the brim of his hat. "It sounds like a big one too." Mario waited 5 minutes when he didn't notice any stirring in his room. "He better not be sleeping again…" Mario thought as he went to check up on his brother. To Mario's chagrin, it turns out he was right. Luigi was sound asleep as he mind was fixated on a dream that to him felt surreal.

"LUIGI!" Mario yelled as he shook Luigi over and over again trying to wake him up.

"Gahh…" Luigi yelled in utter annoyance as he was woken up from what seemed like an enchanted dream. "…why on earth would you wake me up it's only 9 in the morn-…Oh" Luigi replied as he looked at his clock to realize it was actually 1pm.

"Luigi we got a job to do. Meet me in the van in 10 minutes." Mario said sternly as he went to go find the keys.

"That was one heck of a dream." Luigi thought as he woke up to put on his plumbing outfit of choice. The outfit consisted of a green shirt, blue overalls, black shoes, and a green hat with a green L in a white circle as the same style as Mario's hat. He quickly left his apartment and proceeded to get into the van.

The Van was nothing special unfortunately. It was a cheap business truck they got from a junk dealer 5 years ago. It was surprisingly still able to chug along in the condition that it was in then and the condition that it had been in now with all the experience the Mario Brothers had in driving around New York. "

So what exactly do we have on our plates this time?" Luigi asked, curious as to what today's events would be like for the brothers.

"Let's just say it's a big one." Mario replied in a somewhat amusing tone. "

That's what I was afraid of." Luigi said, getting a few chuckles from the duo. Luigi then cleared his throat as Mario was driving along as they both were listening to some rock songs on the radio. "Hey Mario, I had one interesting dream last night."

"Oh really Luigi," Mario said in a faked curious tone. "What was it about this time?"

"Well, that's just it. I can't really describe it to you. I dreamed we were running off to some distant place. However, it was like we were in some different place. We weren't in New York or anywhere close there. It was like we weren't on planet Earth." Luigi said getting tense as he was recalling his dream.

Mario, snickering a little, replied "Yeah just like that one time you and I were government agents trying to take down a group of aliens wanting to blow up Queens. You have some pretty crazy dreams Luigi."

"Yeah, although this dream seemed more real than the others," Luigi confessed in somewhat of a serious tone. "I don't know I keep thinking something in our future is planned for us, that doesn't involve is in the plumbing game anymore."

Mario could only laugh at his brother some more as he was really amused by the ridiculous things coming out of his mouth. "Luigi, try to keep your head out of Cloud nine buddy. Plumbing is in our blood and ain't nothing going to change that."

"You think that now Mario, but you never know," Luigi replied as he was gazing out the van window trying to find something nice to look at through the slums of Brooklyn. "Who knows? A change of scenery would probably be good for the both of us."

"Well sorry to interrupt you dream Luigi but we are here." Mario replied as he stopped the van at a house around 35th avenue and 14th street. "Let's a go" Mario shouted, signaling the brothers' trademark phrase as they were ready to work. However, Luigi still was thinking about the dream he had, questioning if it really was his imagination or if it was real. Mario saw Luigi staring into space and yelled for him to stop daydreaming and get ready to work. "Geez, it didn't take this long for Luigi to get his mind off that other dream," Mario thought. "Perhaps I should just ignore it. I won't let his silly dream get into my mind." Mario chuckled to himself as they were on their way to complete just another plumbing job.


	2. Background of the Mushroom Kingdom

It was a peaceful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Mushroom Kingdom, technology was as up to date as the real world with all the technological advancements having been made since 1993. The sun was shining and there were a few clouds up above. All the villagers in the Town Square were already up, doing whatever they needed to in order to support themselves and their families. All of a sudden, a limo is seen approaching the Town Square.

The limo looked like any limo you would have seen in the real world. The only difference is that there was a huge logo on the right side of the limo indicating it came from Sarasaland. After seeing the logo, the villagers knew who to expect was coming out of that limo.

"Surprise, surprise," one of the villagers remarked. "Looks like Daisy is here for another visit."

The limo stopped in front of Toadstool castle. The front of the castle was remarkable. The marble makeup of the walls of the castle was beautiful. The shape of the red roof was also very well kept as you could not see a crack or a gap from it due to age. There was a mural above the castle door of the lovely Princess Toadstool herself. The door were made from oak trees and gold knobs were inserted to turn the door. The castle was connected via a stone bridge that was above a moat that surrounded the castle.

"Well, time to let the lovely lady out," chirped out of the Sarasaland guards. "You know how she gets when she wants to see the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom." Both guards on the driver and passenger seats rolled their eyes, knowing of what she would do. One of the guards opened the door on Daisy's side and stepping out was the Princess of Sarasaland.

Princess Daisy was a beautiful girl. She had long brown hair, a crown on her head, and green earrings on both of her ears. She always wore a yellow-orange royal dress made from one of the best tailors in Sarasaland. She wore white gloves on both hands and always wore orange-yellow shoes for royal visits or in this case to spend some quality time with Princess Toadstool. Both princesses came to be best friends ever since they first met as babies since both royal families became allies and friends long before the two princesses were born.

Daisy ran across the bridge to where the doors of the castle were, eager to see her best friend again. "Peach open up," she cried out knocking on the door. "I've got something to show you." The doors to the castle opened up, but not by the lovely Princess Peach, but instead by the honorable Toadsworth, the steward to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Ahh good morning Princess Daisy," Toadsworth exclaimed. "I will have Princess Peach out momentarily."

Toadsworth happened to be just one of the many other species that lived in the Mushroom Kingdom besides humans. His race happened to be a Toad, one of the more prominent species that has lived in the Mushroom Kingdom. Sporting his head is a brown spotted white mushroom. His always wore glasses as his was aging and his vision was not what it used to be. He always carried a staff with a white spotted brown mushroom on top of it. He wore a purple vest with gold stripes on the side as well as gold buttons, white pants and brown shoes.

While Toadsworth was getting Peach, Daisy sat around the lounge area of the castle. Each room in the castle was huge and full of luxurious items for which seemed to be endless in Daisy's eyes. "I swear this castle changes Everytime I visit." Daisy thought to herself.

"DAISY!" yelled out a voice.

Knowing who that might be, she quickly rushed out to the stairs of the castle. She hugged the figure in excitement knowing who in fact she was. "PEACH!" she cried out as the two best friends were reunited again.

Princess Peach Toadstool was as beautiful as her counterpart Daisy. She had long golden blonde hair, a crown on her head, and blue earrings on both of her ears. She always wore a pink royal dress with a blue gemstone on it that was made by the best tailor in all of the Mushroom Kingdom. She wore white gloves on each of her hands and pink shoes for royal visits and occasions such as these.

"It's been such a long time bestie," said Princess Peach, giving Daisy a nudge on the shoulder. "Where have you been all this time?"

Daisy just dusted off her shoulder. "Well you know the same old stuff in Sarasaland. Diplomacy, running the kingdom, and getting invitations to a date or a ball with princes." Daisy and Peach rolled their eyes in disgust at that last remark, knowing all princes behave around them. "I mean, I wouldn't mind going out with one of them if they showed that they actually cared about us. I get the impression that all princes just want our money and that is about it."

"Yeah I know the feeling believe me," Peach replied. "If only there were some truly decent people that actually cared for our beauty instead of riches, and when I mean beauty I'm just not talking about looks." They both gave small giggles after that comment. It was true though; both Princess Peach and Princess Daisy were excellent scholars, gifted athletes, and the friendliest people you could ever talk to.

"Enough boy talk," said Daisy. "Let's play some tennis."

"You're on!" exclaimed Peach as both went to grab their sports suits and proceeded to meet each other by the royal tennis courts.

A few feet by the castle were a group of figures hiding in a nearby bush. "Sir, the girls appear to be on the tennis courts. Would you like to execute the plan then?"

The leader of the group just snickered and pointed a finger. "It's time gentlemen. Both these kingdoms are going to fall." The leader let out a small chuckle as to not alert any suspicion as the figures stealth fully approached the tennis courts.


	3. The Plan

Some of the figures jumped out of the bushes and proceeded to go towards the tennis courts, which were to the right of the Toadstool castle. They appeared to be Koopas and Goombas, two other prevalent species of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Koopas were basically turtles if they were able to walk on two legs and were about 2 feet shorter than humans. The Goombas had brown mushrooms as head with 2 stubby little legs. As they approached the tennis courts, one of the Koopas stopped to grab a bomb-omb, a windup toy that exploded like a bomb.

"This should do the trick," one of the Koopas said as they planted the bomb-omb a few feet away from the wall of the tennis court. "Those princesses are ours." The Koopas then wound up the bomb-omb and it proceeded to walk to the walls.

Meanwhile, the princesses were about to finish the 3rd set of their 1st game. Both princesses had one win apiece and the score so far was 6-6 as they prepared for the final set. "Getting tired Daisy?" the princess taunted trying to get into Daisy's head, one of the more prominent strategies she used when trying to win against an opponent.

"You wish," Daisy replied, getting into an athletic stance. "Serve the Ball!"

As Peach served the ball she was startled by an explosion on the far side of the tennis courts. All of a sudden, an alarm is heard as guards of the Mushroom Kingdom came running to the aid of the princesses.

"Princess!" exclaimed one of the guards. "Come with me. There has been a breach from the tennis courts. Reports have detailed that an army of Goombas and Koopas has gathered by an unknown leader. You both are being taken to the bunker where you'll be safe."

Mushroom guards surrounded the tennis courts near where the breach took place. They couldn't believe the sheer numbers of this army as they could count hundreds, even a few thousand, Goombas and Koopas. "Take out the guards, this should be an easy fight," commanded one of the sergeants of the army. "Then we kidnap the princesses." Just like that the Koopas got a running start, slid into their shells, and proceeded to knockout most of the guards. The Goombas provided a quick sweep through charging most of them.

The Goombas knew of their weakness, which was they could easily be destroyed by tapping on their heads. However, the mushroom guards composed of only toads, which were too short to even attempt such a feat. After the short skirmish, most of the army went towards the courtyard to capture the princess. Some troops stayed behind as an escort until to lead the princess back once they were captured.

While the battle was taking place in the background, the mysterious figure jumped out of the bush, and instead of marching towards the tennis courts, he walked towards the stone bridge. He had a spiked shell on the top of his back, red hair, a spiked collar, spiked arms and spiked wrists, looked like a Koopa but was much taller than any other Koopa due to the fact he makeup was similar to a Koopa mixed with a dinosaur. "There will be no escape princesses," muttered the figure. "Your castles, your kingdoms, this world will be mine." Several Mushroom Kingdom guards got in his way.

"Halt trespasser. You are under arrest for attempted kidnapping and assault of Toadstool Cast-AAAGHH" One of the guards yelled as he was being burned by the figure through his fire breath.

"You chumps make me laugh," the figure roared in laughter." Out of my way before I decide to burn you till your end." The figure then marched toward the castle door, leaving a trail of wounded, and a few dead, guards on his path. The figure then looked back his wake of minor destruction. "Only a small stepping stone towards my destiny." He thought to himself just as he was about to destroy the doors using his flame breath. He then kicked the doors with his foot, and they disintegrated to fire ash.

As the princesses approached the stairs to the bunker, they saw the disintegrated doors, as a figure approached them. "What do you want?!" exclaimed both princesses as they were quickly rushed to the stairs.

"We'll handle this princesses," Cried one of the guards escorting them. "Just get down there."

"You poor fool" said the figure as he burned the guard down alive. "Never get in my way, less you want to be destroyed." The figure then looked at the princesses, who were scared out of their minds. "Now princesses, you may either come with me, or watch your whole kingdom get destroyed." The figure approached them slowly as the princesses backed away slowly as well.

"Not so fast you brute!" cried Toadsworth as he stood in front of the princesses. "I may be old, but that doesn't mean I know how to fight." He then charged at the figure only to be swiftly grabbed in one hand by the brute.

"NO!" cried Peach. "Please, whoever you are, please put him down, and we will come with you."

The figure looked at Toadsworth, feeling defeated by the fact he was not able to save the princesses. "Very well then, I'll put him down." He then threw Toadstool towards a bookshelf, where it collapsed on him.

"Toadsworth!" yelled Peach as she started to have tears in her eyes. "You monster, you devil, you…"

Daisy then grabbed her friend and proceeded to comfort her. "Peach, look at me," said Daisy as she hugged Peach. "If we leave right now and try not to anger him, we could save the rest of this kingdom." She lets go of Peach, who was feeling much better after her previous tirade. "Ok, whoever you are, just take us where you need to, there's no need for anyone else here to get hurt."

"Ahh finally some civility in this place," declared the figure as he ordered 2 Koopa troops to capture the princesses. "By the way my princesses, you can call me Bowser, the new king of the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland." Bowser proceeded to laugh as Bowser, Peach, Daisy, and Bowser's army proceeded to retreat back to his castle, which was situated in the Darklands, an evil territory far away from the kingdom.


	4. The Discovery

The wreckage of Toadstool castle was devastating. Some of the marble walls had turned to rubble, which could take weeks or even months to repair. Ambulances that had come from the Mushroom Kingdom hospital had come to take at least a few hundred guards to try to get them to recover from their wounds. Some funeral services were already being planned for the brave guards that had died trying to defend the princesses from the clutches of Bowser. Overall, there were dark times in store for the Mushroom Kingdom. Sarasaland was already experiencing some of the same problems as its ally, but on a much smaller scale with the only concern being of the kidnapping of Princess Daisy.

As recovery units were searching for any missing guards or people of importance from underneath the rubble, one of the units spotted something underneath a destroyed bookcase. "Hey we got a live one," said one of the units. "He's not in serious condition, but if we had waited longer to find him, he might have been." Four recovery units had managed to life the destroyed bookcase up in order to grab the person underneath. They had happened to find Toadsworth, who was still feeling groggy about the events that transpired between him and Bowser.

"Oh my aching head," said Toadsworth in a soft voice as raising his voice would have caused an increase of his pain. "Where are the princesses? Did they make it to the bunker?" All of the people there could only shake their heads no, which led Toadsworth to believe that Bowser did kidnap them. "Do we have any leads as to where this Bowser fellow might have taken them?" Again all of the people could only shake their heads no. "Great," thought Toadsworth. "I had failed them and I don't know where they could be. It's all my fault." Toadsworth began to shed a tear as he was led to the Mushroom Kingdom hospital.

Meanwhile back in the real world, Mario and Luigi had returned home to the real world, ready to make themselves their dinner before bed. "Oh boy, what a job," said Mario, who was getting ready to take a shower. "I didn't think we were going to see the end of it. How does one person become so mindless as to let their plumbing get that bad?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Luigi sitting down on the couch watching TV. "At least that part is over now." Luigi was switching the TV on from channel to channel, until he caught himself watching a show called the Twilight Zone. He got intrigued when the narrator revealed that there were other dimensions to other worlds, making him remember that dream all over again. Mario saw what he was watching and decided to join his brother. "Uh Mario, shouldn't you take a shower first. Who knows what you got on yourself from that job, I want this couch to be as spotless as possible."

"Relax Luigi", replied Mario. "I only wanted to see what you were watching. Anyways, why are you watching this show anyway? Is it because of the dream you had?" questioned Mario, as he went back to the bathroom to begin his shower.

"Yes." Luigi replied as he began to doze off.

"Mama Mia," though Mario as he closed the bathroom door behind him. "Hopefully he gets off of his little fixation soon."

After one episode, Luigi had decided to shut the TV off. "That's just silly," he thought as he was getting ready to prepare dinner. "How all of that stuff could happen without an explanation, you can't write it off as something otherworldly. It's just not possible." Luigi got his mind off the show as he was preparing his famous spaghetti and meatball dish, which both brothers loved to it after a hard day's work of plumbing which was almost every day. "I'm surprised we aren't sick of this stuff already." Luigi chuckled at the thought while continuing to cook. When Luigi was finished he called out "Mario! Time to eat."

Mario got out of the shower just in time to hear Luigi's last comment and rushed over to the dinner table. "Mama Mia, I'ma so hungry I could eat a horse." Mario said as he was setting up the table.

"Well, unfortunately Mario, we got no horses." Luigi said chuckling to himself while Mario could only roll his eyes at him.

"You know I needa to teach you some sarcasm." Mario replied as they the brothers were sitting down ready to eat.

Dinner conversation between them was quite amusing to say the least. They were talking about the day's events, how the sports teams were doing today which only got them talking mostly about the Yankees or the Mets. Mario was a huge Yankees fan, while Luigi was a huge Mets fan. They then proceeded to talk about their love lives.

"So Mario," piped Luigi taking a bite out of another meatball. "Have you seen any Ladies you've been attracted to or vice versa?"

"Mario took a big gulp out of the water that he was drinking as he responded to Luigi's question. "Well, not as of now, but we have been busy these past few months that I have not been looking around as of yet. What about you Luigi?"

Luigi finished swallowing his meatball when he responded "No me neither, but there will be something down the road. I just know it. The truth is I don't like the girls we have been surrounded with. They are too mean, too money driven, they are just like gold diggers. I want a woman who's kind, sweet, smart, an- WOAH what was that?"

Luigi and Mario got up as they both felt an earthquake around them, shaking the house around wildly. "Earthquakes in New York, at this magnitude," said Mario in disbelief. "That's impossible. Luigi we need to get outside now!"

Luigi and Mario got out of the house as they saw their apartment get torn up the power of the earthquake. The house was left in tatters and most of their stuff, if not all of it, was destroyed. "Great we are homeless," cried Luigi shedding a couple of tears. "Now what are we going to do?"

"I don't know Luigi," said Mario shaking his head. "But we always think of something. It's how we've been able to survive this late in the game right Luigi?" Mario tried to comfort Luigi but to no avail. Mario meanwhile surveyed the area when he discovered something peculiar. "Hey Luigi, get a look of this."

Both brothers ran towards the strange object which looked to be a green pipe. "What in the heck is that?" said Luigi which now got him shaking his head in disbelief.

"I have no idea, but methinks we should go down into it," declared Mario, who was always the adventurous one. "And see what we can find."

"Are you crazy Mario?" yelled Luigi, getting nervous shakes around his body. "We have no idea what it is down there. What if there are scary monsters or maybe mutant turtles with non-chucks or swords. I don't want to be turned into sushi."

Mario slapped Luigi on the head to get some sense into him. "Luigi relax, there is nothing to be afraid of. You watch too many cartoons. Now let's a go." Mario climbed to the top of the pipe and immediately slid down it like a slide.

"I'ma not going to like this." Muttered Luigi as he climbed up the pipe and slid down in too.


	5. The First Act of Heroism

The pipe seemed to go on for what seemed like twenty to thirty minutes until Mario and Luigi had finally reached the end. Mario jumped out from the other side and landed feet first. Luigi, on the other hand, had leaped out of the pipe the wrong way and fell on his head. Luckily it was not too serious enough for Luigi to have a concussion.

"Ow my aching head." Cried Luigi as he rubbed his head in an attempt to soothe the pain. Luigi opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Everything in the Mushroom Kingdom looked so different to him. Everything was lush, colorful and full of life compared to the dirty, eye soring sights of Brooklyn. "Mario," Luigi yelped. "I don't think we are in Brooklyn anymore."

"I don't know what would give you that impression," Mario said in a sarcastic tone. "Was it the fact there are no apartment complexes or tall skyscrapers to be seen or the fact that the clouds have eyes on them?"

Luigi looked at the clouds up above to see that indeed Mario was correct. He felt uneasy being in this place. It was to him like a new reality. "This is just like my dream," Luigi thought tensing up with each sight he saw. "I think it is best we go back to Brooklyn." Luigi gave his brother a small tug on the shirt indicating that he wanted to leave.

Mario just pushed his brother's hand away. "Come on Luigi let's do a little exploring," Mario replied, excited for the possibilities of this new world. "It's not like we have somewhere to go now that our house is gone." He swallowed hard at that comment, realizing that he and his brother were indeed homeless and are now searching aimlessly for shelter.

"But Mar-"Luigi said before being interrupted by a cry of help by a Toad.

There was a toad on the road being pursued by a Goomba and a Koopa. The toad had news of the princesses' whereabouts having seen them being carried away by Bowser to the north of the Mushroom Kingdom, where the Darklands had resided. However, a Goomba and a Koopa had seen him eavesdropping by a nearby bush, so they went after him. "HELP Me! I'm being chased." The toad cried out as his pursuers were catching up to him.

"You won't get away from us," the Koopa declared as he was getting closer to the toad. "Time for us to silence a witness."

Mario and Luigi ran up to where the Toad was being chases and they both stood in the Koopa and Goomba's way.

"This is as far as you go." Mario said with both fists raised.

"Turn back or get ready for a pounding." Luigi said with both fists raised as well.

The Goomba and Koopa just laughed at them. "Guess you guys aren't from here," said the Koopa. "Ok Goomba beat up the punk with the red getup. I'll take on this green clown."

The Goomba proceeded to charge at Mario. Mario just rolled to his left as the Goomba completely missed him. Mario tried for an uppercut, but it didn't affect the Goomba. "Hmm, a kick may not work either," Mario thought as he then proceeded to study the Goomba's head. "Rather big head for a dumb creature. Maybe a jump to his head could work." Mario proceeded to dodge another attempt by the Goomba to charge at him. He then took a running start, jumped high in the air and preceded to land on the Goomba's head. The Goomba immediately collapsed to the ground and died on the spot.

The Koopa retreated into his shell, allowing Luigi to make the first move. He started with a punch to the shell. "OW!" cried Luigi as his hand was blistering from the pain from attempting such an attack. Luigi's next move was to attempt to kick the Koopa shell. "MAMA MIA!" yelled Luigi as now his foot was in pain. The Koopa just laughed at him for his futile attempt to hurt him. Luigi then saw his brother jumping on the Goomba's head and then saw the Goomba dead. "Wonder if that works for Koopas." Luigi thought to himself as he jumped on the Koopa's shell. The Koopa shell was then moving in the other direction, towards a nearby stone mountain. The Koopa shell smacked the Stone Mountain hard cracking the shell and the Koopa laid there dead.

"Boy what a fight." Said Mario bushing off imaginary dust as he didn't break a sweat.

"You said it." Replied Luigi rubbing his hand to make him feel better.

"Thank you so much," cried the Toad, who was jumping for joy for the brother's first heroic act displayed. "Erm, May I ask what your names are?"

"I'ma Mario." Mario called out with confidence.

"I'ma Luigi." Luigi called out with valor.

"Why were those creatures chasing you?" Questioning Mario as he looked at the creature he had just slain. "Did you have something of importance to them?"

"Not too them personally," answered the toad as he cleared his throat. "It is about their leader and their mischievous plot. I'll explain more on the way to Toadstool castle. Can you heroes escort me back?"

"Sorry erm-"Mario said not knowing what to call the creature.

"Oh I forgot to tell you my name. It is Toad." Giving the heroes a little smile.

"Ahh thank you toad," Mario said giving the Toad a pat on the head. "Well we aren't heroes per say. Frankly, we have no idea what this place. You could say we are from another world."

"You're heroes to me." Toad said giving the brothers a hug. "Could you please escort me?"

"We'll do it!" declared the brothers, escorting the Toad to Toadstool castle.

When the three of them got there, they saw the destruction of the castle due to Bowser's attack earlier. However, most of the rubble was gathered up and swept away. Most of the items were put back into place. There just laid the missing walls and sections of the castle as well as the absence of the princesses themselves.

"Mama Mia…" said Mario in a worried and concerned look, almost falling over a missing section of one of the walls of the castle. "What exactly happened here?"

"Bowser…" said Toad, with a sad and angry look on his face. "He's the leader of the plot to kidnap Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. He destroyed our castle, killed some of our troops, and wounded the others and…and…" Toad began to cry again, prompting both of the brothers to hug him.

"Do you know who is in charge here?" Luigi questioned, more calm since the fight he had with the Koopa. "Perhaps he could give us answers as to what exactly this place is."

"That would be Toadsworth. But he is at the hospital apparently since his injuries with fighting Bowser." Toad replied, feeling calmer now. "We should probably go see him."

"Let's a go!" said the brothers as the three of them went to the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital.

As they were passing through the town, most of the villagers took a good look at the heroes since they were the new strangers to appear in the Kingdom. They didn't know whether to trust them or to fear them. Toad saw them and then shouted so that every citizen could hear them. "Hail the new brave heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario the Goomba slayer and Luigi the Koopa slayer." The townspeople cheered their names. Mario and Luigi just walked in humility.

"Toad, I think it's a little premature to call us heroes." Mario said with a little red on his face. "We have not really done anything to call ourselves that yet."

"Yeah," Luigi replied. "We should probably hold out on any hero talk. Although this is nice." Luigi just held a big grin on his face appreciating the love he got from the people. Mario just smacked him on the head again and told him to keep moving.

When the three of them got to the Mushroom Kingdom, they asked to see Master Toadsworth. Because the receptionist recognized Toad, she agreed to let the three of them see Toadsworth. They walked around the building until they got to Toadsworth's room. Most of the rooms held the guards that were still severely wounded by the attack on the castle whether they had first, second or third degree burns on their arms, legs, and "other" parts of their body. When they got to Toadsworth's room, Toad walked in first soon followed by the Mario brothers.

Toad told Toadsworth of the events that had transpired with the knowledge of where the princesses were being held as well as the bravery of the Mario brothers to save Toad. Toadsworth heard enough and then motioned Mario and Luigi to approach him. "Boys," Master Toadsworth replied feeling much better since the last time he spoke. "I heard you have saved this Toad. Are you willing to save more?" The brothers nodded in agreement. "Then Master Mario and Master Luigi, I have a dire mission that requires your strength, courage, and determination."


	6. The Mission

Toadsworth when to change into his normal attire in one of the hospital bathrooms. He then went back into his room, grabbed his cane and his glasses. Then he, Toad, and the Mario brothers proceeded to check out of the hospital and they made their way back into Toadstool castle. "Master Mario and Master Luigi," said Toadsworth eyeing their clothing. "May I ask where you are from? I have never seen you in the Mushroom Kingdom. I most certainly would have recognized the attire you gentlemen are wearing."

"Well to be honest," replied Mario scratching his head. "We aren't from the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, I'm pretty certain we aren't from your world. You see we travelled down here from our world via a green pipe."

"Oh you've seen your warp pipes," chuckled Toadsworth. "Yeah those usually go out to different worlds by themselves. It occurs once every 5-6 months. They usually are signaled by a tremor, in what humans refer to as earthquakes."

Mario and Luigi looked at each other, dumbfounded by what Toadsworth had said. "Wow, that explains most of what happened to get us down here pretty well," declared Luigi. "Is there a way we could go back?"

"Why of course," answered Toadsworth brushing a rock away from where he was walking with his staff. "You would just have to go find the pipe you came out of and crawl back into it and repeat the same process as you got here. But if you decided to enter the warp pipe, why would you want to go back? You must have been curious as to what the warp pipe led you to."

"That's a good question." Replied both Mario brothers as they finally made their way into Toadstool Castle. The damage was still there, but there were already construction teams making their way to fill in the missing gaps of the walls of the castle.

"Ok gentlemen," said Toadsworth as the four of them were crossing the stone bridge leading to the castle. "We have a briefing room in the castle that is next to the kitchen. Could you meet me there in 30 minutes as I prepare some briefing documentations?"

The Mario brothers agreed as they decided to explore the castle a little. Toad decided to follow Luigi into whatever endeavors he was planning to do. "Wow this place is HUGE!" yelled Luigi as he was astounded by the enormous size of the castle. "I didn't get to look at it before, since I was too busy observing the damage but it does seem very roomy." Luigi sit on one of the couches at the lounging area proceeding to stare out one of the windows. "Wow it's so beautiful here," thought Luigi looking outside, admiring the view. "So much better than Brooklyn."

Mario explored the outside of the castle. He saw tennis courts, a pool in the shape of a star, a golf course, a basketball court, a go kart track as well as a baseball stadium. "Well, I guess this is where the princesses have their fun," thought Mario admiring the various types of sporting facilities there. "I'll keep this in mind."

The Mario brothers reconvened at the kitchen. "Wow!" exclaimed the Mario brothers looking at the kitchen. It came complete with about everything a celebrity chef needed to make exotic and tasty dishes. There were tons of food supplies in the fridge, pantry and the various cabinets that surrounded the kitchen.

"I could make so many dishes from here." Thought Luigi admiring the high tech oven and stove.

"Luigi could make so many dishes for me." Thought Mario licking his lips.

"Gentlemen are you ready." Said Toadsworth motioning for the Mario brothers to follow him.

The Mario brothers and Toadsworth proceeded to enter the briefing room. Toad wanted to come in but Toadsworth told him to wait outside. Toad closed the door behind them as he ventured back into the lounge room to watch TV.

The briefing room came with a huge table with chairs surrounding it. The Mario brothers and Toadsworth sat in the middle, with Toadsworth sitting across from the Mario brothers. "Ok gentlemen," said Toadsworth as he was stacking the documents for the briefing together. "Here is what we know so far. As of yesterday, the princesses were kidnapped by a ruthless tyrant who apparently lived somewhere called the Darklands. This is the ruthless tyrant." Toadsworth gave the Mario Brothers a picture of Bowser.

"Wow, he is one ugly creature." Declared Mario laughing at how homely the creature looked.

"Wow, a part of my soul just died by just looking at this picture." Said Luigi, causing both of the Mario Brothers to laugh for a second before being cut off by Toadsworth.

"Gentlemen this is no laughing matter," said Toadsworth sternly giving both of them a glaring look. "Now while this beast may be ugly, he is still a devious mastermind being able to capture the princess, crippling our Mushroom Kingdom guard and having a powerful army backing him up. The Goomba and Koopa that you both brothers slayed would be nothing compared to the hundreds that you will be up against." This made the Mario Brothers swallow heavy since they were nervous of the odds stacked against him. "However, the reason why you will be going up against them is to rescue these princesses. Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Daisy of Sarasaland.

"Mama Mia," said Mario completely attracted to the portrait of Princess Peach. "She is one lovely girl.

"Wow," said Luigi who eyes were taken aback by the portrait of Princess Daisy. "I can see why Bowser would want to kidnap her. She is a beautiful girl who would never date someone like Bowser."

"As you can see, this brute, this tyrant…this" Toadsworth said trying to gain back his composure. "This Bowser fellow kidnapped the princesses in order to gain both of their kingdoms. I won't allow that to happen. Gentlemen, this is an important mission. There will be no telling of the perils you will face, the odds you will have to overcome, but if you were to save them and foil Bowser's plans, you both will be great heroes to both kingdoms. Do you accept this mission?"

Mario looked at Luigi. Luigi looked back at Mario and they both gave them bro fists. "LET'S A GO!" exclaimed the Mario brothers."

"Then gentlemen." Declared Toadsworth. "May the odds be ever in your favor. Good luck to you both."

The three of them exited the briefing room as Toadsworth gave them valuable supplies for the journey. A map showing them where the Darklands were located, food for four days, sleeping bags, and a tent. "I hope to be seeing you again soon, Master Mario and Master Luigi." Said Toadsworth as he waved goodbye to the Mario brothers.

Mario and Luigi then said goodbye to Toad, and set off for their adventure.


	7. Darklands

The Darklands was home to the evil tyrant himself, Bowser. There were home to small villages too, mostly populated by Goombas and Koopas. The Darklands themselves were mostly barren, containing little to no source of vegetation but they were blanketed by an endless sea of clouds, making the sun invisible to the denizens there for what would probably be their natural lives. The only jewel, if you could call it that, was Bowser's castle.

Bowser's castle was about the same size as Toadstool's castle. Instead of marble the castle walls were completely enclosed of obsidian. The bridge connected it was a wooden bridge that was in a weak state of repair due to old age. One small step and one could fall into the moat. However, the moat was not composed of water, but instead of lavas. The roof of the castle was always on guard by Koopa archers. There were also various traps within the castle, such as lava pits, which the architects made sure, would not burn down the castle itself. There were also thwomps, large blocks of stone that would go up and down whenever an intruder presented itself. There were also Goomba guards and Koopa troops patrolling the interior of the castle in case an intruder ever did present himself and somehow managed to survive the lava and thwomps traps. There was a bedroom for Bowser, which really was not impressive at all, albeit the view from his window was an endless stream of barren land encompassed by the surrounding darkness. His throne room had a chair composed of solid gold with a few cushions made out of some of his "disloyal" subjects. The kitchen only contained various meats that Bowser and his troops hunted for sustenance around the Darklands. The only recent addition to the castle was its dungeon, where Bowser intended to put the lovely princesses inside.

"Alright men," commanded Bowser giving a little smile. "Throw our guests in here." The Koopa troops shoved the princesses in there, and then proceeded to lock the door.

"You'll never get away with this." Yelled Peach trying to shake the door to be set free.

"Yeah someone will come for us." Yelled Daisy searching for any other means of escape.

"Please," replied Bowser without a hint of concern on his face. "No one knows where you two are. And even if someone did manage to find this castle, I would have a lot in store for them. "Bowser chuckled menacingly then proceeded to enter his throne room.

Daisy and Peach just sat in the dungeon room, looking scared and miserable. "Do you really think someone will come for us?" Asked Peach with a worried look on her face. "I mean we have never been kidnapped before, and we don't know what prince or warrior would risk his life just to save us."

"I don't know the answer to that Peach." Replied Daisy who also concerned of that issue. "But we can't give up. Otherwise Bowser would get what he wants and that is to break us and to eventually allow him to have our kingdoms…or worse." Daisy swallowed hard, having terrible thoughts of the severity Bowser would have on them.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi passed by the town square, and decided to buy fishing poles in case they needed to get food for themselves if their supplies ran out. Mario bought a crimson red fishing pole with a red leer, while Luigi bought an emerald green fishing pole with a green leer. Mario and Luigi went to go ring up the items at the cashier, who recognized them as the Koopa Slayer and the Goomba Slayer.

"Oh Mario, Luigi," said the cashier bowing down to them with humility that they would come to his store. "Please, no need to pay any gold coins, the fishing poles are free."

The brothers said thank you to the cashier, but were puzzled by the fact they didn't accept American dollars.

"Guess we're back to being really poor again." Said Luigi making both brothers chuckle.

"Yeah no kidding," replied Mario. "But hey, that new hero status sure does have its perks. Let's just remember not to let it go to our heads again." He then nudged Luigi in the side, reminding him of what happened earlier.

"Right…" said Luigi feeling a little embarrassed. "Anyways let's get on our way."

They then proceeded to enter the road which, according to their map given to them by Toadsworth, should lead them to the Darklands. It was almost nightfall and they decided to make camp by a huge tree that overlooked a small stream.

"Good thing I bought that fishing pole." Said Luigi who went to explore the small stream in the pursuit of trying to catch fish.

Mario decided to pitch the tent and setup the sleeping bags. He then took out the portrait of Princess Peach that Toadsworth handed to him during the briefing of their mission. Mario couldn't believe that such a brute could ever get her hands on this wonderful creature. "She's so beautiful," thought Mario. "If I could save her, if I could defeat the one they call Bowser, would she even accept me as a friend. A girl like that has to be real shallow considering that there were no princes showing up at her door to escort her dates or whatever they do in this Kingdom." Mario then placed the portrait back with all the briefing documents, grabbed his fishing pole, and decided to join Luigi at the stream.

"Heya bro. Any luck?" Mario asked, sitting a few feet away from Luigi and proceeded to start fishing.

"Nope. Darn fish aren't biting today." Replied Luigi, getting a little frustrated for his unlucky predicament.

"Well. Let me show you eh Luigi." Mario said giving Luigi a wink as he reeled in his first fish. "See it's that easy." Mario chuckled to himself on how lucky he got getting a fish on his first try, while Luigi just got annoyed from Mario's lucky attempt. "So…Luigi what do you think of this mission?"

"Easy," replied Luigi casting out his fishing reel further into the stream. "We got to defeat Bowser, save a couple of princesses, and be back in Brooklyn by the Subway series. Why ask?"

"I don't know Luigi," said Mario getting a little tense. "I think we can have a fresh start here. You know what I mean? I mean there has to be more than just saving princesses here and then leaving."

"You like Princess Peach that much huh?" asked Luigi completely starting his brother.

"I-I…m-mean yes. Could you blame me though, she's a beautiful girl. One of a kind. Her personality has a lot to be desired, but I won't know until the end. You can't tell me you didn't felt the same way about Princess Daisy right?" Mario asked trying to put Luigi on the spot now.

"Y-yes." Luigi said completely blushing now from revealing this fact. "But come on Mario, we're only plumbers. They're royalty and they are after the guys on top not the bottom dwellers. Furthermore I thi-. Uh Mario we got company." Luigi pointed at the tree to about 10 Koopas and 10 Goombas.

"Alright boys," said one of the Koopas rummaging through the brother's supplies. "Destroy anything that might lead to them to the Darklands. We can't have Bowser's plan foiled."

Mario and Luigi ran to the top of the tree where they spotted the battalion of troops. "Hold it right there Koopa scum." Mario shouted getting ready to fight. "Don't you wanna play tag?"

"What is this tag you speak of?" asked the Koopa, confused at the weird game that was popular in the real world.

"It's a game where I tag you," replied Mario as he jumped on the Koopa shell and sent him spinning. "And YOU'RE IT!" The Koopa's shell killed about 4 Koopas and 5 Goombas where the shell landed in the stream where the brothers were fishing and drowned.

"Enough games!" commanded one of the Koopas. "Finish them off."

The Goombas charged at Mario and Luigi which made them dodge left and right in succession of each Goomba attack. Without a hint of exhaustion, the brothers jumped on each of the Goomba's head in succession, killing them off, leaving the Koopas left.

"Try to dodge this you insolent humans." One of the Koopas said as all 5 of them retreated into their shells and proceeded to ram the brothers in 5 different directions. Mario and Luigi carefully timed their jumps, allowing them to pick off one Koopa at a time until one was left.

"Bowser will hear about this." The lone Koopa said as he pulled out a communication device to warn the other soldiers back in the Darklands.

"Send this message to Bowser for me then," said Mario as he jumped on the turtle's shell. "Tell him when we come for him, he'll be turtle soup when it's all said and done. Luigi, you can have the honor."

"With Pleasure." Replied Luigi as he jumped on the Koopa shell again sending the Koopa flying into the stream where his brethren was, immediately drowning him. "Who knew these turtles couldn't swim." Both brothers chuckled at this remark, but then yawned out of exhaustion from the skirmish.

"Alright Luigi," said Mario yawning again from exhaustion. "Time to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead."

"Wait just give me one second." Said Luigi retrieving the fish that the Mario brothers caught from the stream as well as the fishing poles. "I also want to see if these troops have anything of value." Luigi looted the pockets of the corpses of the adversaries they were fighting, retrieving about 150 coins, 4 red mushrooms, and 2 flowers. "Hmm" thought Luigi puzzled at the last 2 items he collected. "I wonder what they do."

Mario and Luigi decided to enter their sleeping days and drift off into their dreams, resting up for the next part in their adventure to save the princesses.


	8. The Pests

"Send this message to Bowser for me then. Tell him when we come for him, he'll be turtle soup when it's all said and done." The recording then turned to static as Bowser turned the recorder off. Bowser sat in his throne room with an annoyed expression on his face, realizing there were a couple of pests he would have to deal with before his final steps of his plan could be realized. Bowser ordered one of his troops to grab him a glass of water, and then turned his attention to the Koopa who gave him the recorder.

"Whoever, these people are," Bowser said with a fist clenched together in anger. "Will not be allowed to stop me. I have invested too much time in this plan and I will not allow it to be undone by a couple of rag tag warriors. Do you we have any Intel on them?" The other Koopa came back with the glass of water, and Bowser proceeded to drink from it.

"Not much intel." Replied the Koopa who took back the recorder. "Just a couple of humans who were able to slay a couple of Goombas and Koopas. Seems to me that they have been lucky this whole time and that their demise will be soon once they meet the bulk of our army."

"That's not good enough," Bowser said as he slammed his fist down one of the arm rests of his throne chair. "I want to make sure they don't even come close to approaching this castle. I can't have the princesses having the hope that someone will come rescue them. It defeats the purpose of having a secluded castle away from their homes. Send more troops after them and with posthaste."

"It will be done milord." The Koopa replied as he gave him a salute and proceeded to walk out of the castle. He then went to some of the small villages that were in the Darklands, and told them to be on the lookout for a couple of humans. "They will be coming here in order to stop the master's plan. Make sure it doesn't happen." Each village was put on high alert, preparing themselves for the upcoming battle with the Mario brothers.

Meanwhile back at the Mario Brothers campsite, the Mario Brothers had just finished waking up. They had gathered up all their things, and proceeded to venture forwards according to their map.

"Hey Mario," asked Luigi. "How long until we make it to the Darklands where this supposed Bowser's castle is?"

"Well, according to the map," replied Mario as he was studying the map itself. "We should get there at the most by a little more than a day's worth of walking. That is if we don't run into any more trouble."

"Please," said Luigi puffing out his chest. "Danger is my middle name."

"No," replied Mario giving him a devious smile. "Your middle name is Mama. Mister I don't want anything in our house to get dirty. You're always such a neat freak."

"Well excuse me." Replied Luigi rolling his eyes. "You want to clean our house? You want to cook?"

"No." said Mario in a lowered tone realizing that he just lost his argument.

"Exactly," said Luigi in a prideful voice. "Oh I take that back, I wouldn't want you to do the cooking. I don't think my stomach could handle it." Mario then gave his brother a playful shove, silently telling him to zip it. "Oh it's all for good fun bro. Besides got to talk about something to keep our minds off this long walk."

As they were walking by, they spotted a few Koopas grouped up together. "They are probably talking about something important," thought Mario as he stopped dead in his tracks. "Luigi and I should probably go find out what they are up to." Mario pulled Luigi to the side and spoke to him in a whispered tone to not catch the attention of the Koopa group. "Hey Luigi, we shoulda go spy on those Koopas. They might know information regarding the princesses."

"Okie dokie." Replied Luigi as the brothers spotted a few bushes in the distance in hearing range of the Koopa's conversation. They proceeded to sneak over there and do a little eavesdropping.

"So as you can see. Bowser believes we have a couple of humans who could be a potential threat in his eyes." One of the Koopas said while the others remained silent, trying to understand what their orders were.

"Mario, are they talking about us?" whispered Luigi.

"Of course they are talking about us," Mario said in a rushed whispered voice. "Now pay attention, I want to learn what they know."

"So, let's just eliminate them then." One of the other Koopas said. "All five of us are tough, I'm sure if we approached we could easily take them out…"

"NO!" yelled the leader of the Koopa conversation, startling all the Koopas there. "I have reports that 10 Koopas and 10 Goombas already tried that and not of them made it out alive. This is a potentially dangerous threat. What we need to do is have a heavy amount of resistance once they make it to the Darklands. So, this is our plan. I want all 5 villages in the area heavily secured…"

Mario and Luigi were listening very intently when all of a sudden, pollen from the nearby trees slowly crept into the bush Luigi was in. Unfortunately for Luigi, he had allergies to pollen. "Oh great," thought Luigi. "This is the worst time for it now." Luigi had the powerful urge to sneeze.

"Luigi don't you do it." Said Mario sternly as he pointed at Luigi and gave him the evil eye.

Luigi couldn't contain it anymore and suddenly put out a loud sneeze.

"And furthermore I want all troops to-," The Koopa was then interrupted by the loud sneeze coming from the bushes. "HEY! By the honorable name of our leader Bowser, I want whoever is in those bushes to come out with your hands up."

Mario and Luigi came out from the bushes, and proceeded to attack the small amount of Koopa adversaries. "Please," Mario said already getting confident from his last battle. "The amount we had to take on was nothing compared to this."

"Yeah face it guys," Luigi said in a boastful tone. "You have already lost this fight." The skirmish did not take too long; the Koopas were easily slain by the Mario Brothers since they knew of the Koopa's weakness. The victory over them allowed Luigi to loot 50 coins, a red mushroom, and a flower. What Luigi was also able to loot was the Koopa's battle plan for incase the Mario Brothers made it there. "Better take this too," Luigi thought. "This may come in handy when we get there."

Mario and Luigi walked a few more hours to their destination after the fight before deciding to spend the night by a hidden part of the forest where no Goombas or Koopas could find them.

"Hopefully they don't try to ransack us this time." Said Mario annoyed at the possibility of that thought.

"Yeah hopefully they-"said Luigi before Mario accidentally dropped a portrait of Princess Daisy right near him. Luigi could not help but becoming hypnotized by her beauty as he stood there with mouth slight ajar continuously starting at the photo.

"Uh Luigi." Mario said snapping his fingers in front of Luigi's face before he snapped out of it.

"Oh Mario what did I miss?" asked Luigi sheepishly. Mario just gave him one of those "I told you so looks" as Luigi's face started turning red.

"Now you know what we are fighting for." Said Mario as prepared the tent and the sleeping bags. "That's why we can't give up, and we have to fight until we win or until the bitter end."

Mario and Luigi both drifted into their own dreams, knowing that when they wake up, they start the battle to rescue the princesses.


	9. The Invasion

As Mario and Luigi woke up the next morning, they gathered everything they had in preparation for the confrontation in the Darklands. They set aside their inventory revealing that they had a total of five mushrooms, three flowers, and 200 gold coins.

"Well," Mario said scratching his head trying to think of a plan. "We will definitely not need the gold coins until we get back to the Town square in the Mushroom Kingdom so leave those aside." Luigi tossed the coins back into the pile containing all of their mission equipment. "We should each get 2 mushrooms and a flower each." Mario then tossed 2 mushrooms and a flower to Luigi. "I have no idea what any of these items do, but if the Goombas and Koopas had them, they must be of some value."

"Mario take the extra flower and mushroom." Luigi replied giving his brother a bro fist. Mario accepted his proposal putting the extra flower and mushroom in his pocket.

"Ok, the small villages in the Darklands should be destroyed first before concentrating on the main hideout, where Bowser will most likely be." Mario drew red Xs on the villages then the castle. "Then we defeat Bowser and kidnap the Princesses. I can honestly say I have no idea what we are up against, but I'm glad you're by my side.

Luigi and Mario gave each other bro hugs as they finished packing up their stuff, preparing themselves for the main fight. "LET'S A GO!" yelled the brothers as they crossed the border of the Mushroom Kingdom and entered the Darklands.

When they entered the Darklands, they could tell this place had an eerie feeling. They felt the place devoid of any life besides the obvious opponents they would have to face. "Why would anyone live here?" Mario said reaching out of his pocket and pulling out a flower. Luigi would do the same thing, expecting a nearby battle soon. The brothers looked up at the sky, which was still covered in clouds with no sunlight getting by them.

"I can see why they call this place the Darklands." Luigi said getting an uneasy feeling about this place, even more so then we had first approached the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yeah, well we won't be in here for too long." Mario said in a confident tone. "We just got to take out an army that can be easily defeated and rescue the princesses, then bolt out of this strange land."

"I like that plan. Can we also get something to eat afterwards?" Luigi asked as he was rubbing his stomach.

"Always thinking on his stomach." Mario mumbled to himself as the two brothers continued their way into the Darklands territory.

A little up the road from where the heroes were travelling was a decent sized army guarding the path. It consisted of 100 Koopas and 100 Goombas. "Alright men," shouted the commander of the small army. "We got a couple of humans here to foil Bowser's plan. Our job here is to not let them get any further. Stand your ground and let's break some human skulls." The army stationed there roared in agreement as they prepared for the incoming invasion. The Mario brothers saw the impending fight coming up ahead when they spotted the small army.

"This is it Luigi," Mario clenching both fists looking ready for a fight. "There is no turning back. This battle will probably alarm everyone in the Darklands including Bowser himself. Everyone besides the princesses is the enemy." Luigi clenched his fists, also ready to fight off whatever approached his way.

"I'm a ready." Said Luigi as the Mario brothers ran up towards the small army and then stopped a few feet away from the horde of Goombas and Koopas.

"This is your last chance you human scum," said the commander, getting ready to signal his army to attack. "Turn back now and we will spare your lives. There is no hope for you against our mighty army, or against the might of Bowser himself."

"We'll see about that," both brothers replied, equipping their flower power up, which gave them the power to throw fireballs from their hands.

The commander sighed and then ordered the army to attack. Without thinking, the Mario brothers decided to play around with the fire power up and see what abilities it had.

"Hmm," Mario thought. "I wonder what happens if I do this." Mario made a stance which allowed him to cast out his first fireball, and instantly burnt down a Goomba trying to attack him. The rest of the troops then stopped in its tracks, realizing what Mario had just done.

"Mhmmm," said Luigi sniffing the air. "I love the smell of roasted Goomba in the morning, or whatever time it is. With the stupid clouds in the way it's so hard to keep track of time here."

"Alright I get the joke," Mario said impatiently. "In case you haven't noticed, we have a battle to win here."

"Oh right." Luigi said casting his own fireball which burned a Koopa. "Would you like turtle bisque instead?" Mario then face palmed himself recognizing how stupid the joke was.

The commander looked at the two dead troops then looked at both of the Mario brothers. "I had enough of this delay. ATTACK and FINISH them off!" Without hesitation, the army charged and the brother's biggest fight was about to commence.

Mario and Luigi's strategy was to backpedal and take out the troops one by one since they were faster backwards than any Koopa and Goomba that was running forwards. They had defeated about 20 Goombas and 20 Koopas when they realized they were getting exhausted and that they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Mario then made a growling sound as he realized the brothers would be done for. "There has to be a way to make this end quicker." Mario thought as he went back to his casting stance, he then stood there longer than when he cast one fireball and realized something. More fireballs were coming out in rapid succession, almost the same fire rate as a semi-automatic pistol, which was quickly depleting the remaining members of the small army that they were fighting. "Luigi!" yelled Mario since Luigi was on the opposite side of the road that he was on. "Hold down the fireball casting stance. It takes them out much quicker." Without hesitation, Luigi did what his brother told and realized the results were the same, more and more fireballs kept coming out, quickly slaying out the troops he was facing as well.

"Yeah take that you whelps." Luigi said in a mocking manner. "Who's the scum now?"

The commander of the army looked in horror as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. More and more troops were slain by the brothers. He could hear the bloodcurdling screams as they were being burned away. He could hear "AAAGHHH!" and "SOMEONE HELP US!" as if it were being repeatedly played on a recorded over and over again. "I can't believe this," said the commander in a defeated tone. "I've got to sound the alarm." The Koopa retreated to the closest village he could spot, with the Mario brothers close behind. "You think you humans won?" angrily questioned the commander who was still bitter over the defeat of all his troops. "You've only gotten a taste of the might of our army. Why don't you try handling all of us!" The commander sounded the alarm just after Mario threw a fireball at him finishing him off. "You…won't…survive" The commander spoke as he then fell to the ground. The alarm was raised, alerting all of the Darklands to the Mario brother's presence.

Over in the Darklands, the princesses heard the alarm off in the distance. "What could this mean?" asked Princess Peach who was woken up by the alarm.

"Our rescuers." Said Princess Daisy with a little smile on her face. Both princesses looked out of the lone window in the dungeon. It was a small window, but from that window gave them hope that they were going to be free eventually.

Bowser heard the alarm as well from his throne room, angrily throwing both fists onto both armrests on his chair. "I can't believe it, "thought Bowser worried about the invasion taking place. "They got in, and I have to make sure they don't get out." Bowser let out an angry roar, scaring some of the Koopa and Goomba guards present in the castle. "Bring me the princesses." Ordered Bowser as that was all he could say while trying to restrain himself from attempting any violent attack upon his guards.

"Yes sir," said one of the Koopas, shaking from right. "We will have them for you in just a minute."

"I won't let them take down all I had built," thought Bowser. "Without a fight."


	10. The Bond of Brothers

Mario and Luigi looked at the dead Koopa commander with no hint of remorse. The insignias that he wore on his jacket looked like rankings for how many adversaries he had slain over the years, with the true purpose of intending to expand Bowser's empire. "This place," Mario said in a hushed tone. "Makes me feel uneasy, makes me feel afraid, makes me fe-"Before he could finish his sentence, Mario proceeded to barf on the dead corpse. His body becoming rattled from the effects of being in the Darklands for an unprecedented amount of time. "Luigi, no good can come from this place. Let's burn everything. True evil like this cannot be stopped until the roots are pulled out and left to die."

"You got it," Luigi said who was also feeling the side effects of the Darklands.

The Mario Brothers began burning down everything in the first village, all the buildings, all the troops that were coming to attack them. Nothing stood a chance against their might. When the first village was eradicated, they proceeded to attack the other four villages which were located on the map. Bowser's empire was crumbling fast, and the Mario brothers knew that only one thing stood in their path, which was the castle itself. Mario kept thinking of Princess Peach and how she must be suffering up there, while Luigi was thinking the same thing but about Princess Daisy. The brothers didn't know what the outcome would be, but they never fought for money nor did they think the princesses would love them; they did it for the adventure and the preservation of a kingdom that offered them a place where they think they wouldn't get one for being so different.

The princesses saw the flames from the lone dungeon window. They knew what was happening to Bowser's tyrannical empire, and that the castle was next on the list. "I can't believe it," said Princess Peach who was astounded by the destruction she was witnessing. "I almost feel sorry for Bowser, if I didn't know he was such a brute."

"True Justice being served to that evil brute." Said Princess Daisy who couldn't help but smile at the devastation. "I wonder who is causing all of this; it couldn't be the work of a couple of heroes right?" Before that question could be answered, several Koopa troops came unlocking the dungeon door, attempting to move the princesses again.

"Bowser wants to see you," said one of the Koopas giving a menacing grin. "He has special plans for you." The Koopa troops proceeded to bring the princesses to the throne room, where Bowser was waiting for them.

"Put them into the cages," commanded Bowser, with ferocity echoing through his words. "My plans will not be undone yet, and those princesses are the key to my success." The Koopa troops locked both Peach and Daisy into the cages and then proceeded to continue their patrol duties. "You really think you're victorious yet?"

"Well yeah, if you considered the damage done to your king-"Peach replied, but harshly interrupted when Bowser slapped Peach's face hard.

"Shut your mouth you tramp!" Bowser said, still angry by what was going on outside his kingdom. "When I want you to speak, I'll tell you got it?"

Peach was silent for a moment, and then afterwards building up tears in her eyes.

"HEY!" Daisy angrily yelled, turning Bowser's attention to her. "Don't you ever raise your hand to my friend, or I'll break it."

Bowser had a wicked grin upon his face as he approached Daisy, causing her to feel uneasy with each footstep he made. "So feisty aren't' you," said Bowser in a menacing tone, causing Daisy to have nervous shakes all around her body. "That makes you even the better to taste my dear princess." He then proceeded to lick the princess around her face, causing her to faint from the terror she was feeling. "I don't want to hear a word from anyone of you. I've got a couple of heroes to squash." The princesses were silent, hoping for the heroes that awaited them to get here sooner rather than later. Bowser then ordered the guards to send the archers on the roof. "They don't get in the castle or else." Bowser gave him a threatening gesture, motivating the guards to effectively carry out his order.

"That's the last village Mario." Said Luigi brushing off the dust from his shoulder as nothing but burnt remains of the five villages stationed around Bowser's Kingdom remained. The inhabitants were all slayed, in large part to them attacking the Mario brothers. The smoke from the fires engulfed the Darklands, covering the last thing that remained, Bowser's castle, in smoke making the threat more ominous.

"Time to end this then." Mario said, with fireballs in his hands ready to be cast at any moment. The Mario brothers approached the castle bridge, which was very close to falling apart. Koopa archers readied at the roof at the castle, aiming their arrows at the heroes themselves. These were some of the top marksmen in Bowser's army, able to hit anything that moves with impeccable accuracy.

"Bows at the ready men," commanded the archer sergeant giving the Mario brothers a ferocious look. "Their progress ends here, forget the villages because we can rebuild. Our empire must be preserved and the only way to do that would to end their lives. When I give the order, we attack and end this threat here and now."

"Ready Luigi?" asked Mario giving a small smile of confidence.

"Ready Mario," said Luigi looking at the archers with a hero's look, unnerved, unbent, and unbroken by the threat that surrounds them. "Mario, whatever happens here, I just want you to know that I love you like a brother, and no Koopa, no Goomba, and no tyrant can take that away."

"Luigi," said Mario, turning his head to look at Luigi. "I love you man. Now let's finish this. No matter what, we give it our all."

The Koopa archers had their bows in the ready position, ready to let go of the arrow when told to do so. The Koopa master archer grinned at what he thought was his impending victory and let yelled out a command with all the viciousness in his voice. "FIRE!"


	11. The Final Battle

The Koopa archers had fired their bows, with the arrows after the brothers as fast as bullets being fired from a gun. The Mario Brothers had to do cartwheels in order to dodge the rain of arrows. Luigi was able to dodge them all successfully. However, one of the arrows hit Mario in the stomach, causing him to fall down on the ground.

"MARIO!" cried Luigi as he saw his brother fall to the ground, tears coming out of Luigi's eyes.

"It's a alright Luigi." Mario said softly as pulled out another flower. Soon, he jumped back up to his feet, feeling one hundred percent again, and tossing the arrow that had hit him into the lava before.

"That's impossible," said one of the Koopa archers. "No human could have survived that no matter the willpower." The archers quickly tried to retrieve their next arrow to short. With the delay in reloading, the Mario brothers took their opportunity to take down some of the archers on the roof. With some of the archers down, the Koopa master archer wasted no time commanding the rest of his archers to hurry up and fire. The Koopa archers that remained fired their second arrow, with the Mario Brothers easily dodging them. Concentrating their attacks on the archers, the Mario Brothers fired their fireballs at the archers again. More Koopa archers were defeated, some crashing into the lava moat pit below.

With the last of the archers disposed of. Luigi took the opportunity to put down the master archer. "Ughhhhh." Croaked the master archer as all he could think of to do was to fall on the bridge below him, shattering the bridge, piece by piece that connected the Darklands to the castle.

"Luigi," Mario said running towards the bridge. "We have to move now." Mario and Luigi had to jump where the bridge was not destroyed in order to gain access to the other side.

"Just like my dream." Luigi thought to himself as the Mario brothers were making their way to the other side. With one more leap the Mario Brothers attempted to make it to the other side. Luigi successfully made it because of his tall jump. However Mario could see he wouldn't be able to make it as he was only able to grab the edge.

"Mama Mia," thought Mario hanging on for dear of life. "If I let go, I become a roasted pizzano."

Luigi then grabbed his brother's hand and safely pulled him out of danger. "I got ya bro." The two brothers than embraced in a brotherly hug. "That's twice I thought I lost him," thought Luigi trying to wipe the tears from his face. "Bowser will pay for this." The Mario brothers than kicked the doors to Bowser's castle open. They then traversed the lava pits and the thwomps in order to gain access to the main part of the castle. Random castle patrols always found the Mario Brothers but they met a grisly end as they were no match for the Mario Brothers. They explored the castle trying to find the princesses. They checked the kitchen, dungeon, and even Bowser's bedroom to no avail. They then reached the final room, where they were certain that the princesses were being held.

"The final battle bro." Mario said turning the knob to open the door. "The final step towards reaching the sweet end."

"Then let's get this over with." Luigi said, his fists up and ready for battle. "It's time to kick some Bowser Butt."

Mario opened the door to the throne room, where they took a step forward, face to face with the enemy they had been searching for in Bowser. "So," Bowser said, his voice raised a bit higher than normal speech volume, furious at the Mario Brothers for all the work that they had undone. "It is you who has come to destroy my empire, destroy what I've worked so far. I would expect such a couple of heroes not to be so ridiculously dresses." Bowser let out a menacing laugh, angering the Mario Brothers a little. "I'm sure you come to rescue the princesses. Well rest assured they have been under great care thanks to me." He then lowered the cages from the ceiling to reveal both Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. They were sleeping, but the Mario Brothers could tell they went through a great deal of trauma with scared expressions written all over their face. This enraged the Mario Brothers even more.

"You're going to pay for what you have done," Mario said, his teeth clenched in anger seeing Peach tortured like that. "Face it you have lost, and you are just another bad guy me and my bro are going to crush."

"I'll make sure you feel what those princesses have felt under your watch," Luigi said. "When we're done with you, you'll wish you never missed with the Mushroom Kingdom."

Bowser could lonely laugh, confident that he could take down the Mario Brothers himself. "Then prove it heroes. Come and face me." Bowser put up a taunting gesture, causing the Mario Brothers to charge at him. He then slammed both fists hard on the ground, causing parts of the floor to fall into a lava pit below, triggering a trap. However, the Mario Brothers prepared for such a plot, narrowly avoiding the falling parts of the floor and jumped platform to platform to get to the side where Bowser and the princesses were located. On the last platform they had to jump on, the Mario Brothers imitated a jumping karate kid, and both attacks hit Bowser's face as he was kicked back all the way to his throne room chair, making it and Bowser crash to the floor with a hard thud. This stir caused the princesses to wake up from their exhaust driven slumber without the Mario Brothers knowledge. They then were able to get a good look at the heroes for the first time.

"So they are our heroes," thought Peach, barely able to keep an eye open. "They came all this way, faced so many odds just to rescue us." Peach lit up a small smile before fainting back to sleep from severe exhaustion.

"They're so brave," thought Daisy as she was also smiling at the Mario Brothers. "Not to mention they're really cute too. More charm than any other prince has shown me." Daisy, just like Peach, has also fainted from exhaustion silently hoping that the Mario Brothers would come out on top against Bowser.

Bowser proceeded to stand up after that initial attack. His face a little cut up from it meeting those two kick attacks. He roared in anger and starting using his fire breath to attack them, which both Mario brothers dodged in success. "That never happens," thought Bowser now having a worried look on his face. "Could it be that I have finally met a worthy opponent?" Then suddenly Bowser yelled "NO!" as he let out another fire breath attack one in which Mario and Luigi again narrowly dodged as one brother was on each side of Bowser.

"I guess my fire attack isn't going to work," thought Mario as he didn't try to cast a fireball. "Bowser is probably immune to them. So I guess I'll just fight him in hand to hand combat." Since Mario didn't try to cast any fireballs, Luigi did the same thing, as to not waste his energy when trying to fight him. Again, the brothers charged at Bowser at opposite sides, until that was when Bowser grabbed both brothers by the shirt and lifted them up high from the ground. The brothers tried to wiggle free, but Bowser's grip was too strong.

"Take a good look at the princesses," Bowser said in a menacingly soft tone. "It will be the last time that you will ever see them." With all his strength, he sent the Mario Brothers flying into a wall, both hitting their heads with a sickening thud. The force itself made Mario and Luigi unconscious for a few moments. Bowser then proceeded to slowly go over there, planning to cast his fire breath to finally put an end to the brothers' lives. Peach and Daisy woke up for a tiny portion again just to see the Brothers hit the wall, unconscious and ready to be killed.

"Wake up!" softly said the princesses, using as much strength as they could. "You've given us hope, you can't be defeated now." Tears were in their eyes as they prepared for the inevitable

During their time in an unconscious state, they saw a devastating future as to what would happen if they didn't defeat Bowser. They saw the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland being annexed by the Bowser Empire. Bowser would have an army that was larger than what the Mario Brothers would have faced before. The princesses would be forced into marrying him, and never finding happiness again knowing that their inhabitants were basically slaves to themselves. The worst part about their vision was the knowledge that Bowser had won. "NO!" cried the brothers in their own visions. "I can't let this happen. Not after I had come so far, so close to reaching the end game.

Mario and Luigi woke up, and dodged the next fire attack by a millisecond as Bowser's flame reached the indent from where they were unconscious. "Impossible," said Bowser in a shocked tone. "How could you have survived that? That throw would have knocked out a toad for a good five minutes and any two bit hero for at least three minutes."

"Yeah well try us you overgrown lizard." Mario replied defiantly ready to challenge Bowser to another fight.

"I'LL SHOW YOU HUMAN! I'LL SHOW ALL OF YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MISS WITH ME!" Bowser said a in a furious shout as he charged at Mario. However, Bowser's anger got the best of him when Luigi spotted his tail in a vulnerable position. He ran up towards it, grabbed it which caused Bowser to fall on the ground immediately.

"Hey Bro," Luigi said straining to life the tail up. "A little help here."

Mario helped his brother lift Bowser up from his tail as they spun him around and around in a big circle. "No," thought Bowser now scared for his life. "What are you doing? This isn't supposed to happen. I'm supposed to win here, not you two."

The two brothers with the last of their strength spun him around one last time and threw him into the lava pit below. "SO LONG A BOWSER!" yelled the two brothers as Bowser fell into the lava pit, defeating Bowser once and for all.

Bowser landed face first into the pit, desperately trying to get out. "NO GET ME OUT OF HERE! THIS CAN'T BE THE END IT CAN'T! AAAGGHHH!" Bowser than sank into the pit below.

The Mario brothers sat on the edge of the pit looking down to where they threw Bowser.

"It's over Mario," said Luigi in an exhausted tone. "We saved the Mushroom Kingdom. We saved Sarasaland." Luigi put his arm around his bro and gave him a playful nuggie.

"Hey take it easy Luigi." Mario said, too exhausted for any brotherly shenanigans. "Besides, there's one thing left to do now." Mario then turned to the cages where the princesses were being held and pointed to them.

"Oh right." Said Luigi sheepishly as both brothers stumbled their way towards the cages, knowing at least that the hard part was over.


	12. The Conclusion

The brothers made their way to the throne chair, smashed into pieces from the fight with Bowser, and grabbed the 2 keys for the cages located in the back of the chair. Mario grabbed they key for Peach's cage while Luigi grabbed the key for Daisy's cage. The brothers both opened them, allowing them to meet the princesses face to face, albeit the princesses were sleeping away from the torment by dwelling in Bowser's domain.

"She's so beautiful," Mario whispered to himself, unable to look away at Peach's beauty. "To think I get the pleasure of taking you back to the Mushroom kingdom." He picked up Peach from the cage and held her bridal style. She didn't twitch or move a muscle as she was still sleeping away.

"Mama Mia," Luigi whispered, smiling at her as she was locked in a peaceful sleep. "I would one day like to get acquainted with you, but for now I must return you to the Mushroom Kingdom and fulfill the mission." Luigi had also picked up Daisy bridal style then turned to look at his brother, who was love-struck with Peach. "Ready to go bro?" Luigi said as Mario now shifted his focus to Luigi with a confident smile.

"Let's a go" replied Mario as they walked out of Bowser's castle via a back door entrance and then set a course back for the Mushroom Kingdom. "Luigi, we're going to need to make camp soon. It's too dark to get back to the Mushroom Kingdom in one day."

"I agree," Luigi said pointing towards the tree Mario and Luigi were previously camping one or two nights before. "Let's settle there and wait until morning to finish out the journey back."

The Mario brothers both laid the princesses down in a blanket, still stuck in whatever dreams they were in. Mario and Luigi then set up a tent and their sleeping bags as they prepared themselves to sleep the night away.

"Let's a go fishing again," Mario said picking up his fishing pole. "I'm not tired yet." With that said, both brothers journeyed to the small stream awaiting their luck to catch more fish.

About fifteen minutes after the Mario Brothers were gone, the princesses stirred up from their slumber. They awoke to realize they were neither in Bowser's castle nor the Darklands anymore, but by a small stream that was considered part of the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach and Daisy then turned to look at each other. "They did it," said Peach, whose voice was feeling much better after the needed sleep. "Our heroes defeated Bowser and rescued us."

Daisy just looked around; smiling at the fact someone came for them. But was puzzled as to the fact that their heroes were not in close sight. "Yeah, but where are our heroes now?" Daisy asked looking at the surroundings. "Oh there they are!" Daisy pointed out the Mario brothers fishing at the lake. "Perhaps we should go talk to them Peach? Get to know them a little bit. It's the least we can do for them since they came all this way to rescue us." Peach nodded in agreement as the two princesses made their way to the stream.

Mario and Luigi were carrying out a conversation of their own, talking about their mission as well as their future plans going forward after they had delivered the princesses to the castle. "Can't you believe it!" Mario exclaimed giving Luigi a good pat on the back. "We're a both heroes!"

"Amen to that." Luigi replied giving Mario another bro fist. "No Goomba nor Koopa will want to mess with us again. I just hope the princesses are alright up there. This journey will be quite the adventure for them."

"Well," Mario said casting out his reel into the stream. "It was quite an adventure for us. I can't believe us two brothers would take out an entire army just to get to them." The princesses were close to ear range as Mario and Luigi just kept talking without their presence being noticed.

"You know Mario," Luigi said blushing as he made his next statement. "I would happily do that again if it gives me an excuse to rescue Daisy again. She's so beautiful, I would gladly fight a thousand more Koopas and Goombas if it meant I would be able to be her Prince Charming again." Daisy blushed as she heard Luigi's last comment. She felt her heart beating fast realizing she was falling for Luigi's charm a bit.

"Ok Casanova," said Mario jokingly, making both brothers give playful shoves towards each other. "But I know how you feel bro, the way Daisy makes you feel is the same way that Peach makes me feel. She's an angel no doubt about it. She fell from the heavens below and the Mushroom Kingdom won't have a better princess than her." Peach's eyes watered a bit, having never been complemented like that before. Now Mario's charm was starting to work on her.

The Princesses stood there frozen for a second, not knowing what to do. Finally, Daisy was the first to break the silence between them two. "Alright then," Daisy whispered to Peach. "At least we know which hero to sit next to." Peach giggled a bit as the princesses prepared to make her move.

"Hi boys!" Both princesses said as Mario and Luigi got startled by whose angelic voices they were. The brothers turned behind them to see that both princesses were right behind him. They both took big gulps as know they had the chance to see into their eyes, so full of beauty and genuine kindness.

"Do you mind if we set down next to you," Asked Daisy, playing the scared girl routine. "It's awful lonely up on the hill." Without hesitation, the brothers nodded their heads. Daisy sat next to Luigi's right side, while Peach sat next to Mario's left side. Both brothers looked at each other, nervous and tense, knowing that the girls they loved were right next to them. However, they calmed down when both brothers gave looks of encouragement between each other as they turned back to the Princesses they loved.

"So, my hero," Peach said causing Mario to blush making him remove his red cap. "What's your name?

"T-the name's M-Mario." Mario replied, nervous being around the beautiful Princess Peach. W-what's y-yours?"

"I'm Peach." Peach replied patting a kiss on Mario's nose, causing him to turn even redder. "And it's been a real honor to make our acquaintance."

"Better here than in the dungeon." Mario said causing Peach to giggle a bit. "I can't believe it," Mario thought smiling to himself. "This is actually working, maybe I have a shot with her. I hope Luigi's producing the same amount of success."

On the other side of the lake, Luigi and Daisy were about to strike up a conversation of their own. "Hey there hero." Daisy said in a seductive tone, causing Luigi to blush even more than Mario. For Luigi, he was more nervous around talking to pretty girls than Mario did. "Mind if I ask your name?"

"I-I'm-m a L-Luig-gi" Luigi said starting to sweat under his cap, making him take off his green cap.

"I'm Daisy." Daisy replied giving a small smile to Luigi, causing him to get even more nervous.

"It-t's a p-pleas-sure to m-meet m-me," Luigi said before realizing his mistake, his eyes becoming wide open. "I m-mean y-you Daisy. S-sorry."

"It's ok," Daisy replied giving Luigi a kiss on the cheek, which at this point made Luigi's heart to beat fast. "You're exhausted so exhaustion's got your tongue. It's a pleasure to meet you too Weegee. You don't mind if I call you that do you?" Daisy asked the question while giving him curious big puppy dog eyes."

"N-not at a-all," Luigi said, breathing faster than normal. "Yy-ou can call m-me w-whenever y-you want, as l-long as you call me." Luigi imagined then slapping himself for being so foolish. "Really," Luigi thought. "That's the best you can come up with? You're lucky if Daisy will want to talk to you again."

Daisy just giggled again. "You're funny Weegee. How'd you get to be such a silver-tongued gentlemen?" Daisy smile became a bit bigger as she scooted over close to Luigi, giving him nervous shakes all around his body.

"Don't worry," Luigi thought to himself. "Just play it cool and you will be alright."

The conversations between Luigi and Daisy, and Mario and Peach would last for a good two hours. They talked about what their likes and dislikes, their dreams, aspirations, as well as the contrast between their worlds.

"So you're not from here?" The princess would ask.

"Nope I'm afraid not." The brother would reply.

Everyone was then getting exhausted since it was getting pretty late, the time equivalent to midnight or so.

"Milady. May I escort you back up the hill?" The brother would ask getting their respective princess to giggle.

"Oh yes please good sir." The princess would reply as all four of them made it back to the hill where the camp was setup. The brothers slept in the tent since the princess would prefer to sleep in an open setting, still feeling the effects of being trapped in the dungeon and cages for so long in Bowser's castle.

"Well good night princesses." The brothers said in unison, getting into their tent.

Peach blew a kiss to Mario and Daisy blew a kiss to Luigi, signaling good night to them.

"Oh Mario," Luigi said still love-struck from his conversation with Daisy. "What a night."

You said it Luigi," Mario said as he was love-struck from his conversation with Peach. "Tomorrow will only get better." Then both the brothers and princesses fell asleep excited for what the next day would bring for them.

When the brothers and princesses woke up, they shared a meal together, packed up the camping equipment back, and set off for the Mushroom Kingdom. The journey took about 10 hours, so it was in the middle of the evening when they reached the Town Square. The Toads living in the village gathered around to see the heroes back along with both their Princess and the Princess of Sarasaland.

"They have returned!" exclaimed the crowd, happy of the return of their beloved princess. "ALL HAIL MARIO AND LUIGI!" There was a huge celebration around the square as everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom had realized they had won and Bowser had lost. The brothers tried to avoid the celebration, not because they wanted to, but they wanted to get the princesses to the castle as fast as possible so that their mission could finally be complete.

The four had finally reached Toadstool castle. Toadsworth, after fully recovering from his injuries from the invasion of the castle four days ago was grateful to see the princesses as well as the brothers again. "Bravo what a splendid job!" exclaimed Toadsworth, running up towards the princesses and hugging them. "I missed you two and I'm glad you're finally safe." He then walked towards the brothers giving them a handshake. "You have my thanks Master Mario and Master Luigi. Great job accomplishing your mission."

All five of them walked towards the entrance to the castle as Toadsworth, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy entered the castle, with Mario and Luigi waiting outside, prepared to say goodbye to the princesses.

"Wait, Mario and Luigi," peach said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Does that mean you're going back to the real world and that we will never see you again." Daisy was also intrigued with their answer as she also didn't want them to leave the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other. They realized there was nothing left for them in the real world and they could be happy living in the Mushroom Kingdom. However, they felt like they didn't belong here. They were a bunch of outcasts living in a society different from them, they felt out of place.

"Princess," Mario began to reply, trying to swallow a lump down his throat to prevent from breaking into tears. "We would love to stay here, but we don't belong here. Furthermore, we-" Mario said before being interrupted by Toadsworth.

"Nonsense," Toadsworth said with a serious tone in his voice. "You couldn't be anymore wrong. You make a great addition to our kingdom and if you want, we could commission a house for you to live in, although it would be rather close to our kingdom so you may encounter these beloved princesses most of the time." Toadsworth giving a small wink to the brothers, knowing how much the brothers liked the princesses. "So what do you say? Would you like to become official citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom?" Both princesses didn't say anything, they gave a look that was almost begging of the brothers to stay.

"What do you think Luigi?" asked Mario. "I won't make a decision without your judgment."

"No let's go home." Luigi said as a small amount of silence soon followed. The princesses put their heads down, thinking they would never see the heroes again. "I'm a kidding Mario. Of course we should stay." The Princesses then picked their heads back up, and almost wanting to smack Luigi for playing a joke like that.

"Alrighty then," Mario said with a smile on his face. "We will a stay!"

"Very good then." Toadsworth replied with a small smile on his face. "Now the house will not be completed for a few days. So until then, you shall stay in the castle." Mario and Luigi gave each other a couple of bro fists, knowing they would be treated like royalty for a few days. "I shall prepare a couple of guests' beds for you. Now come inside as it is getting rather dark."

"We'll see you inside boys." The princesses said as Daisy kissed Luigi on the forehead while Peach kissed Mario on the forehead, causing them to both blush. "Good night." The princesses then went to Peach's room getting ready to turn in for the night.

"You know Luigi," Mario said as looked up towards the starry night. "I'm a goanna like this place."

"I was just about to say that." Luigi replied as he gently pushed his brother towards the door as both of them entered the castle, ready to spend their first night as citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Back at the Darklands, the smoke from the destruction cleared. The villages were ruined with only a few hundred Goombas and Koopas left in the empire. A war this costly would take the empire months to rebuild. The castle stood standing but was hallow from the inside with corpses of Goombas and Koopas littering the hallways of the castle. In the throne room however, a hand was grabbing onto a ledge, as it was trying to climb out of the pit. The hand held on to the ledge with brute strength until the figure climbed out, drenched in lava and from the looks of it was badly burnt.

The figure turned out to be none other than Bowser, who had survived from the fight. His fists clenched in anger as he was extremely anger at his defeat at the hands of a couple of humans. In a bout of rage he threw his broken throne chair into the lava as he yelped from the pain that the lava pit gave him. Some of the Koopas who were present in the throne room were astonished that he was alive, thinking he would dead for certain. Bowser immediately grabbed one of them by the shoulder and issued the following command. "I…want you to…find out who they were. They are…going to pay for what they did to me." Bowser then collapsed as the pain was too much to be conscious for. The Koopas gathered him and took him to his bedroom where he would rest until he was healed, until he was at full strength and until he was ready to fight the Mario Brothers. "Next time," Bowser said to himself. "They won't be so lucky."

**The End!**


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